Joe Whittle is a member of the Caddo and Delaware Nations of Oklahoma, a journalist, an outdoor skills instructor, and a seasonal field ranger with the U.S. Forest Service in the Wallowa Mountains and Hells Canyon region of Oregon. He is also a longtime activist for indigenous rights, and is currently developing a wilderness immersion program for Native American youth.
Episode Outline
- Defining cultural appropriation
- The impacts of cultural appropriation on cultures whose practices are appropriated
- How American Indians survived 500 years of oppression
- The difference between tribal cultural identities and tribal colonial identities
- How extirpation of indigenous people leaves a cultural void filled by the romanticization of indigeneity
- The emergence of ‘pretendians’, people falsely claiming Indian ancestry or cultural connection to capitalize on the romanticization of indigeneity
- How people of European ancestry can work to combat cultural appropriation and the erasure of indigenous people
Links & Resources
- Support A Worldview Apart on Patreon
- Native Appropriation (blog)
- My Life as a Cleveland Indian: The Enduring Disgrace of Racist Sports Mascots, an article by Jacqueline Keeler in Salon
- On the Shameful and Skewed ‘Redskins’ Poll, an article by Jacqueline Keeler in The Nation
- Joe Whittle Photography (website)
- @joewhittlephotography on Instagram